Popery:
A huge crowd for the papal audience filled Paul VI hall and St. Peter's today. The crowd congratulated the Pope on his name-day (even though it's suppressed this year for Holy Week). I can't find a text anywhere, but here's at least a news account. Apparently he walked us through the significance of all the major moments of the Triduum, and made a plea for peace in Tibet.
The pope is following "with great trepidation" what is taking place in Tibet, and feels "sadness and sorrow in the face of so much suffering", issuing an appeal to recall that "violence never resolves problems, but only worsens them", and asking that "God may illuminate the minds of all and give each one the courage to choose the path of dialogue and tolerance.".Funny, but I just did a quick perusal of the websites of the major papers here and abroad, and I don't see any "Pope denounces China's war" headlines. Not that I'm positing any equivalence at all between Iraq & Tibet or China & the US. I simply note the Holy Father's tireless and prophetic calls for peace are construed politically on a somewhat selective basis.
[snip] "We know", he said to the 15,000 faithful present at the general audience, "that hatred, division, and violence never have the last word in the events of history.
- The meditations for Friday's Stations at the Colosseum are up in Italian already. As reported previously, Hong Kong's Cardinal Zen wrote them, and they're accompanied by Asian art. You'll notice they aren't the traditional stations. For example, the 6th station is: "Christ is scourged & crowned with thorns." (Shown above is the --usually 2nd-- 7th station, Christ accepts his cross.) Fr. Z. reports the Pope will join the procession only for the last three stations this time. (Heh. He said "Zen meditation.")
- Cardinal Bertone, Vatican Sec. of State, presided over the funeral of Chiara Lubich, foundress of the Focolare Movement, who died earlier this week. The Pope sent a message to Card. Bertone to be read at the funeral.
- Against the Grain posts a new study guide for Spe Salvi.
- Remember my post about charity as a virtue without which truth can't be recognized? Lo, if rumors are true, the Pope's forthcoming "social enyclical" is be called Caritas in Veritate and it is suggested it may be about the relationship between truth and love. (The Holy Father and I are like this, as we used to say when we were kids, holding up two fingers and pressing them tightly together).
- Iraq: NCRegister's tribute to Archishop Rahho.
- Israel: the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem retired today. I hadn't realized he was natively from Nazareth.
- Italy:An old Good Friday meditation from the late Chiara Lubich; and I already told you Gorby's a Christian.
- Japan: merging its two seminaries. Vocations, $$ in short supply.
- Russia:the big meeting between Alexy II & the Catholic bishop of Moscow was cancelled.
